Credo Quia Impossible Est
by turbomagnus
Summary: Nabiki thought she knew everything about Ranma, so when he started acting different, she had to find out why... She never expected his double-life to get her caught up in a world of undercover operatives and impossible missions.
1. I - Stand By For Action

Foreward: To readers of my "Wild Horse Chase" collection, this story will be familiar, though some chapters have been re-ordered and other minor alterations made; it's reached the point where I fill comfortable declaring it a full-fledged story and seperating it off on its own - though the first five chapters will still be in "Wild Horse Chase" so those reviews aren't lost - and posting any new chapters as such. For those who aren't familiar with it, expect Ranma-with-a-spine, Nabiki in over her head, and plenty of jokes and references to the classic "Mission: Impossible" tv series.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Stand By To Action"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

The tree shook and small animals scattered as Saotome Ranma hit and slid headfirst to the ground, sighing as he came to rest with his head and back on the ground and his legs against the tree. Casually Ranma looked around before commenting.

"Huh, must've been a bad hit, usually I land on the other side of the park," closing his eyes, Ranma knitted his fingers together behind his head, in no hurry to return to the Tendo house for another round of 'Ranma, you jerk!' and 'Marry Akane to make up for this insult!' from the Tendos and his father's usual 'What have I done to deserve so dishonorable a son?'

"Hmph," Ranma scoffed to himself, knowing who the honor really rested with in the Saotome family and that it wasn't his father, a man who was only kept out of the prison system by the fact that his son - by some unknown power - had a far greater sense of loyalty to others than Saotome Genma ever showed. It was ironic, but whereas before Ranma had merely been one of the best Martial Artists in Nerima Ward, now he was one of the most powerful people there; even if no one knew it. His power wasn't the physical arts that Genma held in such esteem or the mental games that Tendo Nabiki played against everyone with the large numbers of yen in her bank account proof of her string of victories... Ranma's power had become something far more dangerous; the power of someone with connections - the connections of someone who now lived a life not simply for martial arts, but for a purpose; connections with other people who lived their lives for the same purpose...

One of those people speaking drew Ranma from his eyes-closed half-nap, "You're a hard man to find sometimes, Saotome."

Ranma cracked an eye and looked up at the man standing over him, "Yeah, then gimme a GPS, Boss, and you can find me anytime."

"As long as you're attracting water," 'Boss' answered, "We can't afford to keep buying you new locators whenever one gets waterlogged. What did you say this time?"

Ranma twisted and squirmed around until he was now sitting up, his legs crossed and his back against the tree, "Why's everyone always got to think I said something?"

"Uh-huh," the other man nodded, "So what did you say?"

"I just asked if she'd tasted the food first before putting it in a bento box for me, that's all!" Ranma huffed, "Don't see why she got so upset, it's an honest question."

'Boss' looked down at Ranma and shook his head, "Saotome, I thought you'd have worked with us enough by now to have figured it out; honesty, contrary to what people say, is _not_ always the best policy."

Ranma looked at his 'Boss' flatly, "When you realise that you were raised by a lying, cheating, thieving criminal, you learn the value of honesty, fairness and some other things the hard way."

The 'Boss' gave Ranma a cold smile, "I'm not here to argue the morality of what we do with you, Ranma, I'm here to recruit you."

Ranma perked up, "What's the mission?"

'Boss' frowned at him, "You know I can't tell you that here."

"Where and when?" Ranma demanded.

"Chiba safehouse, tomorrow at six. Try to get some rest before then, huh?" 'Boss' managed a quirky smile, "And, uh, maybe some asprin too if you're going to go around crashing into trees, okay, Ranma?"

Ranma scratched his cheek before commenting, "Maybe two bottles, just in case, huh, Boss?"

"Tomorrow, six," the 'Boss' answered before shaking his head and walking away.


	2. II - In The Line of Duty

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"In The Line Of Duty"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

"Saotome!"

Saotome Ranma swore in his mind before spinning around to grab Tendo Nabiki by the wrists to drag her around until her back was against the wall.

"Dammit, Nabs, you're gonna get us _both_ killed," Ranma spat in her fact before slamming his lips against her own with a force born of frustrated anger.

Nabiki's gasp of surprise was cut off by Ranma covering her mouth with his, but her eyes still widened in shock as the man who was technically her sister's fiancee - even if he hadn't ever actually officially chose Akane to fulfill the Saotome/Tendo marriage contract - did his best to kiss her senseless. Despite the fact that her brain cells seemed to be shutting down from the uncharacteristically... romantic, part of Nabiki's mind wanted to say, actions that Ranma was taking, Nabiki tried her best to mentally retrace the steps that had led her to her current situation.

First, the Japanese government had intervened in Nerima Ward, declaring that events had become too disruptive to ignore any further. As foreign nationals, the Amazons had been escorted to a sea port and put on a boat out of the country by armed members of the Japanese Self-Defence Force. They were also informed that any attempt by any Chinese Amazon to re-enter the country would be considered a hostile act and Japan would respond accordingly. Not everyone had a chance to celebrate one less rival for Ranma's attentions, though, because while that was happening, representatives of the government were investigating further and made the announcement that because Kounji Ukyo had been registered in government records as male, and further because there had been no records made of any agreement between the Saotome and Kounji families, that Ukyo had no legal claim to Ranma and would be held financially and legally accountable for anything resulting from her actions in pursuit of Ranma. Kuno Kodachi recieved a similar statement of accountablity.

Then Ranma had started disappearing at all hours of the day and night, sometimes staying gone for days at a time, his entire attitude changing as he became more and more 'no-nonsense' every time he returned to the Tendo house. When Ryoga had shown up with his usual 'Ranma! Prepare to die!' enterance, Ranma showed the final proof of his change. Instead of his usual easy-going response, Ranma had quickly disabled Ryoga by breaking all four of his limbs and leaving the 'Eternally Lost Boy' halfway through a wall, half-crippled and scared to death. Thanks to her recording equipment, Nabiki was the only one besides them who knew what Ranma had said to Ryoga...

"Next time you threaten to kill me, Ryoga, you better succeed... or I'll be the one killing you and it will be 'in self-defence'."

Needing to know what had happened to change Ranma this way, Nabiki had decided to follow him the next time he went out. She had followed him to an apartment building in the Chiba Ward and when he came out, he was with four other people and had changed his clothes and his entire attitude, projecting an air of a lazy performer with the guitar he carried - she hadn't even known he could play a guitar. Then, Nabiki had followed him to this nightclub and watched as Ranma performed onstage under the name 'Kuroshiro Ryo', slipping backstage when his act ended with the intent to confront him. She had called his name and...

Nabiki whimpered against Ranma's lips, not knowing what was going on and suddenly afraid to find out.

"Come on, Ranma, drop the girl," Somebody said, grabbing the back of Ranma's shirt and giving it a hard tug, "Time to go before we get ourselves caught in the final act."

Ranma pulled away from Nabiki and answered, "Gotta take her, Boss, she knows me outside of this."

'Boss' swore, "Fine, grab her and let's go before they decide to do us in rather than each other."

"Sorry, Nabs," Ranma remarked before quickly jabbing a finger into one of Nabiki's pressure points, causing her to lose consciousness with one last thought.

'What the _hell_ is going on?'


	3. III - Credo Quia Impossible Est

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Credo Quia Impossible Est"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

"I believe because it is impossible." - Translation of title.

-o0O0o-

* * *

"Good morning, Ms. Tendo."

The words caused Tendo Nabiki to stir where she lay.

"Ms. Tendo?" The voice repeated, causing Nabiki's eyes to flutter.

"I'll get her up, Boss," a second, more familiar voice commented, then added, "Hey, Nabs! Wake up or Pops'll eat all the breakfast up!"

Nabiki suddenly jerked up into a sitting position and full-wakefulness with an exclaimation of "Panda-skin rug!"

Saotome Ranma chuckled and the unfamiliar man standing next to him managed a slight grin at Nabiki's reaction to Ranma's 'wake-up call'.

"Morning, Nabs," Ranma smirked, "Sleep well?"

Nabiki glared at him, "You've got a lot of explaining to do, Saotome... and you..."

She turned her glare on the man next to Ranma - if she were to describe him in one word, it would be 'nondescript' - and frowned, "Who are you, anyway?"

'Mr. Nondescript' shook his head, "You first, Ms. Tendo. Why were you following us?"

"I don't even know who you are," Nabiki snapped back, "I was trying to find out why my sister's fiancee was acting so weird - even for him."

"Mr. Saotome is one of us, Ms. Tendo," 'Mr. Nondescript' replied, "Your actions in following him put him at risk as well as the rest of us. Basically saying you were 'curious' won't excuse your actions."

Nabiki stood up, "I don't know what kind of game's being played here, but I'm not playing."

The middle Tendo sister started to push her way past Ranma and 'Mr. Nondescript' and was startled when they each grabbed an arm and physically threw her back onto the couch.

"Sit down, Nabs," Ranma said with an uncharacteristic chill in his voice, "You leave when the 'Boss' clears you to leave."

"Now," the 'Boss' put his foot up on the couch next to Nabiki, "Why - exactly - were you following Mr. Saotome?"

"Better answer him, Nabiki," Ranma commented, folding his arms over his chest, "This ain't like the games you're used to from Nerima Ward... 'Boss', you mind if I..."

"No, go ahead," 'Boss' answered, "Why don't you go see what Hiryuki's found so far?"

Ranma nodded and headed towards a door, pausing long enough to call back, "Don't break her too bad, 'Boss', okay? As dumb as she can be sometimes, she's still kinda family."

"That depends on Ms. Tendo, Ranma," the 'Boss' replied, "Get going."

The sound of the door shutting behind Ranma, leaving her alone with this mysterious 'Boss', echoed in Nabiki's ears as he looked down at her and narrowed his eyes.


	4. IV - Ante Up

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Ante Up"  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

In a room, four people sat around a coffee table - two on a couch, one on a loveseat and the fourth in a chair across from the couch - playing a card game; five-card draw, penny-ante.

Sitting on the couch, Saotome Ranma generated and held a ki ball under the nose of the man next to him, "Practice on ya own time."

The person rolled their eyes and with exaggerated slowness pulled a card from their sleeve and placed it in their hand and took one from their hand and put it up their sleeve.

"Uh-huh," the third man at the table nodded, "Now try it with the cards you were dealt, Akira."

Akira sighed and repeated the motions, "You guys take all the fun out of this game."

The lone girl at the table, her legs curled up underneath her on the love seat, batted her eyelashes, "Well, I'm glad you didn't include me in that since we all know I'm most certainly not a 'guy'."

"Get two cups of water, hot and cold, and prove it, May," Ranma snorted, fulfilling his usual part in such an exchange.

"Cold water for you, Ranma, and a good cat-fight for us - I'm all for it," the third man announced.

"Hiryuki," Ranma reabsorbed the ki ball that he had been holding under Akira's nose, "How would you like a punch in the nose?"

The door opened and the 'Boss' stepped into the room, holding the door open as he commented, "Violence doesn't solve everything, Ranma."

All four at the poker table looked at their 'Boss' in disbelief before Ranma spoke for all of them, "That's crazy-talk, Boss."

"Then I guess I'm crazy," the Boss replied before continuing, "Ranma, you already know her, but to the rest of you, I'd like to introduce the newest member of our little band of ne'er-do-well do-gooders... Team, this is Ms. Tendo."

When the named girl walked into the room, Ranma raised his hand and waved at her, "Hey, Nabs."

"I'm out," Akira threw down his cards.

"Fold," May announced delicately.

"Take it," Hiryuki snorted, dropping his cards on the table.

"Oh," Ranma swore as he realised that, when waving to Nabiki, he had shown the other three players his hand.

"Well, at least _that's_ normal," Nabiki muttered to herself, only to be overheard by the others.

Ranma laughed, "Normal? Nabs, the one thing all of us here have in common is none of us is able to be normal. I grew up on the road learning nothing but how to fight..."

"And he's the most well-adjusted person here," Akira interjected with a grin, "So you can guess how screwed up that makes the rest of us."

"You're 'screwed up'," May shook her head defensively, "I'm not."

"I'm sorry," Hiryuki countered, "I still remember how you ended up being recruited for this."

"But they were all bad people," May answered innocently.

"Ms. Tendo, the wide-eyed innocent is Shiryu Mayuko - don't let the look fool you, she's nothing of the sort," the 'Boss' pointed at the guy who had commented on the group being 'screwed up', "The wiseguy is Kishi Akira. Akira is a headliner magician, unfortunately he's sworn never to use his powers for good. Trust him with you life, but never with your dinner."

"Hey, Boss, now that's unfair!" Akira complained, "Why would you go and tell the new girl something like that?"

"Because I know you, Akira," the Boss answered, "Finally, there's Akatome Hiryuki - gamer, gambler and has a good claim on being one of the smartest people in Japan, maybe even the world."

"World-class cook, too," Hiryuki added, "But no one ever mentions that."

"That's not the final person," Nabiki pointed out.

"You already know Ranma, Ms. Tendo," the 'Boss' reminded her.

"Yeah, but I don't know _you_," Nabiki pointed out, then frowned, "Ranma, Akira, but you call me 'Ms. Tendo', why?"

"Because I don't trust you," the 'Boss' answered simply, "And until I do, I have no intention of calling you anything else or giving you my name. For now, you can simply call me 'Boss' like the others."

The hard look in his eyes as he said that made Nabiki gulp and wonder again what she had gotten herself into...


	5. V - Catching Up

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer: "Ranma 1/2" is owned by Takahashi Rumiko and used without permission or intent to profit.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Credo Quia Impossible Est"  
'Catching Up'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

"Alright, put the cards away," 'The Boss' instructed, and Nabiki had never actually seen Ranma follow an order before like he did now - making sure to pocket his winnings from the penny-ante game while he was at it, "Hiryuki, what do you have for me?"

The younger man picked up a laptop that lay on the floor next to his seat and sat it on the cleared table, opening it, "Well, Boss, what I was able to get off of their system in the time I had..."

"Skip the editorialising, Hiryuki," May rolled her eyes, "Please, I can only take so much..."

"Anyway," Hiryuki shot her a dirty look as he brought up the information on the laptop's screen, "It looks like Hitoko's a smart one; nothing verifiably dirty actually happens at the club. Everything there can be made to look legit, covered up, or..."

Hiryuki smirked as he finished, "Disavowed, for that matter."

"Always gotta be the funny man, huh, Hiryuki?" Saotome Ranma commented with his arms folded across his chest.

"Somebody's got to," Hiryuki retorted, "You've got no sense of humor."

"Ranma," The Boss chided, then looked to Hiryuki, "Go on."

"The real fun is that the order of the performers and their songs is really the code for the next auction," Hiryuki continued, "To the average clubber, it doesn't mean anything; but to Hitoko's 'associates', it tells them where and when he's holding another sale."

"Hey, remember me?" Nabiki spoke up, "I have no clue what you're talking about here..."

Ranma growled softly, "Drugs, Nabs. Hitoko Shinji brings them in from outside the country and sells them to dealers here..."

"We remove him," Akira explained further, "And it becomes a lot harder for the dealers to get their supply - at least for a while."

"When you say 'remove'," Nabiki began nervously.

"We don't kill," The Boss sharply cut in.

"Unfortunately," May sighed, "No matter how satisfying it would be sometimes."

The Boss gave May a stern look before repeating, "We don't kill."

"So how do you 'remove' people then?" Nabiki asked.

"That's something we gotta figure out," Ranma informed her.

"What do you think, Ranma," The Boss looked at Nabiki thoughtfully, "'looking to move up'?"

The 'muscle' shook his head, "Nah, Boss, Nabs' reputation's too good for it. Everyone knows she don't go there."

"I could do it," May remarked.

"Like it or not, you're too well known by some of the people that might be at this auction, Mayuko," The Boss shook his head, "That leaves you out."

"I don't like it," Ranma grumbled, "But 'Ranko' could do it... and with some hot water, it'll put me on the inside if something goes wrong."

Nabiki had been looking back and forth like following a tennis match without being able to know what the score even was, "Do... what, exactly?"

"The information we need to be able to attend Hitoko's auction is coded," Hiryuki explained, "A code we don't have. There's only two places we can get the code, from Hitoko or from one of his buyers. Hitoko we'd have to convince whoever we send is an up-and-coming dealer, someone who can make him yen..."

"But it takes time to set up a proper 'face' for that approach," The Boss picked up, "Time we don't have if we want to keep Hitoko's next shipment from ever hitting the streets. And if we tried to force it from one of his buyers, they're warn him and he'd change the code, the auction time and place, everything, and we'd be back at the beginning or worse with Hitoko alert for us."

"Which just leaves coercing it out of one of 'em..." Ranma huffed, "I hate havin' to use 'feminine wiles' to get a job done..."

The Boss patted him on the shoulder, "We'll find some way to make it up to you, Ranma... Hiryuki? Find Ranko a mark..."


	6. VI - Personal Problems

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 2 October.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Credo Quia Impossible Est"  
'Personal Problems'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

"So, did you enjoy yourself, Ranma-_chan_?" Nabiki teased as Ranma's girl-form entered the main room of the Chiba safehouse.

The redhead snarled and spat back, "Shut it, Nabs, or I'll have Hiryuki put laxatives in your dinner."

"Ranma, Ms. Tendo," the Boss said firmly to both before turning his attention to the shorter girl, "Were you successful?"

Ranma's eyes flashed with fury, "I was undressed by the guy's eyes, groped hard enough that I'll probably have bruises, and I actually had to kiss the disgusting slimeball... but yeah, I got the code..."

Ranma tossed an SD card at the Boss before continuing, "And now I'm gonna go take a nice, long, _hot_, Western-style shower - and if Akira or anyone gets some smart idea of flushing while I'm in there, just make sure they understand I'm in a bad mood and lookin' for someone to take it out on..."

The redhead then stormed out of the room, headed for the safehouse's bathroom and throwing the cropped black leather jacket she had worn behind her as she did. The Boss shook his head at 'her' retreating form and closed his eyes as Ranma slammed the door behind her.

"That was uncalled for, Ms. Tendo," he finally said after a moment.

"What, that?" Nabiki snorted lightly, "I've been teasing him like that since the day the Saotomes showed up on our doorstep."

With his eyes still closed, the Boss shook his head again, "That doesn't make what you do right, Ms. Tendo. It simply proves you know nothing about Saotome Ranma."

"What's there to know?" Nabiki wrinkled up her nose, "He's an idiot who doesn't care about anything without 'Martial Arts' in its name, he has no idea how to interact with people and he's a magnet for water that turns him into a girl. What else is there to know?"

"I'm disappointed, Ms. Tendo. Ranma implied that you were an intelligent and observant person," the Boss remarked, "It seems he was incorrect in his conclusion."

Nabiki put her hands on her hips and frowned, demanding, "What do you mean saying I'm not intelligent and observant?"

The Boss looked at her questioningly, "How else would you describe someone who makes a decision without all the facts and then refuses to revise it when they do have them besides unintelligent or a fanatic? It seems you don't realise this, Ms. Tendo, but Ranma has severe self-image problems, despite his appearant confidence. His inability to connect with others outside of Martial Arts is because for two-thirds of his life, that was his life. For ten years, he was allowed no interactions nor any lessons that weren't meant to be related in some form to what he calls 'The Art'. It should be no wonder that any associations he attempts to make are done through it. And as for your labelling him as 'an idiot', Ranma might possess less education than many, but his learning ability is perhaps without equal; he is a kinesthetic learner; someone who learns by experience and by doing. He can sit in a classroom all day and learn nothing by lectures and books, but put in a hands-on situation he becomes proficient with a subject extremely quickly - his learning of certain 'special techniques' should have implied this to you, Ms. Tendo."

Holding the SD card in his hand, the Boss stood up, "If you'll excuse me, this needs to be given to Hiryuki with all haste."

Nabiki stood there and watched as The Boss left the room, leaving her to mentally go over all the times that Ranma had learned some technique or style simply by starting to do it. And once she had started, she began to realise just how many of those times there actually were to count.


	7. VII - Enigma Magic

Author's Note: The 365 Project is an experimental _multi-fandom_ project to write and post at least one short every day for the next year, not including my semi-regular bi-weekly updates. For more details, see the relevent section in my profile. This is The 365 Project, 5 October.

In the immortal words of Samuel L. Clemens... "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot. BY ORDER OF THE AUTHOR."

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi and is used for entertainment purposes without permission or intent to profit.

* * *

-o0O0o-

"Credo Quia Impossible Est"  
'Enigma Magic'  
By J.T. Magnus, 'Turbo'

-o0O0o-

* * *

Ranma walked into the room with a towel around his waist and drying his hair with a second.

"Woo, take it off!" May catcalled.

Except for blushing as red as his usual shirt, Ranma managed to ignore her - eliciting a curious look from Nabiki since it was the first time she could remember him not panicking when a female did anything that could be considered showing interest in him - and instead asked, "So what've we got, Boss?"

The Boss looked at Hiryuki and nodded, signaling for the other man to explain.

"Well, Ranma," Hiryuki started, "Between the raid on the nightclub and your..."

The technician winced at the cold look in Ranma's blue eyes, "Yes, well, anyway... We now have both the coded information with the auction location and the code to decrypt it with. We decided to wait on you before running the decryption program."

"Uh-huh," throwing the towel in them over his shoulder, Ranma folded his arms and smirked knowingly, "May, how many times did Boss have to threaten him to make him wait?"

"Oh, he's getting better," the girl answered him, "Boss only had to threaten him thrice... er, three times."

"I know what 'thrice' means," Ranma told her, adding to himself, "Kuno was good for nothing if not helping learn new words..."

"Okay, Hiryuki," Ranma continued with a shrug, "Go for it."

With a grin, Hiryuki entered a series of commands into the laptop computer sitting in front of him, "Decrypting... now."

Nabiki watched and fought the urge to cover her ears as the computer displayed a calendar and clock, the clock hands spinning like propellers while a green cursor highlight seemed to move randomly around the calendar - all to the time of bits and pieces of music that seemed to blur together into an unintelligible mess of noise.

"You made the decryption program yourself, didn't you?" Akira commented with a grimace.

"It's great, isn't it?" Hiryuki replied with a grin, "You can actually watch and listen as it works."

"Sounds like the mermaid song from that movie about the wizard and the burning cup," Nabiki retorted.

"It is rather... cacophonous," the Boss agreed, "How long will this take, Hiryuki?"

"Well, that depends on how long it takes the computer to match the playlist from the club two nights ago to the code we - that is, Ranma - retrieved last night and then use that to translateit," Hiryuki answered.

"Hiryuki," Akira sighed, "How long?"

"Any time," Hiryuki replied calmly, "Just... give it time..."

"Well, while it's doing that," Ranma grumbled, "I'm gonna go get dressed - Mayuko's eyeing me up and I'm way too familiar with that look; too many sleeping powders, paralysis powders and ancient Chinese Amazon tricks come from that look for my tastes."

When Ranma turned and walked out of the room, with May watching him with a grin on her face, Nabiki looked at the other girl speculatively, trying to decided if despite the fact that the government had put its foot down with the Amazons and Ukyo and the Kunos - something she now suspected was related to whomever 'The Boss' actually was and whoever this group worked for - Ranma still had the same situation of attracting fiances wherever he went.


End file.
